Defense against the Dark Arts and a Little Potion Added
by HallowRain8587
Summary: The Second Wizarding War has ended. Nobody has died, not Fred, Tonks, Remus, Dumbledore, Snape, Sirius and Moody but they "out of action" for a while. Albus Dumbledore is assembling the new staff for the 5th year post war. Mainly centered on the teachers of Hogwarts.
1. Prologue

**The Defense Against the Dark Arts with a "Little" Potion Added**

**The characters and scenery are the property of J.K. Rowling. The plot, situations and additional characters are figments of my imagination, the names, however, are wonderful names that hold power in my life, but their actions in this are purely fictionalized. The war has ended nobody has Fred, Tonks, Remus, Dumbledore, Snape, Sirius and Moody were not dead but "out of action" for a while. Thanks to the healers at St. Mungos and precaution potions from Professor Snape and Madam Pomfry they had been revived in short order. **

_Thoughts are in italic type._

**Prologue: Hiring new staff**

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk in the Headmaster's Office reading over the staffing for the upcoming year and remembering the first year after the Second Great Wizarding War.

_ "Thank the stars most of the staff had returned that year providing a sense of stability for the students after such tumult. Minerva McGonagall had returned to her position of Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration Professor. She was the best in the field and had even had three of her students become registered animagi a feat not accomplished since the Marauders had become non-registered animagi, but that was another time. She had also agreed to be head of the Gryffindor house."_

_ "After having his name cleared and his cover as a spy/mole had been blown Severus Snape was anxious to resume teaching in obscurity. He was given a choice of returning to Potions or Defense of the Dark Arts. He had chosen the DADA position, but taken back position as head of Slytherin house."_

_ "Horace Slughorn agreed to serve one more year as Potions Master, but now had no the stomach for the Slug Club nor being head of Slytherin. He seemed to be merely marking time until re-retiring. He had been followed in short order by Cheryl Long in the second post war year, Karen Roberts in the third, and Donovan Kent in the fourth year. Where was he going to find another?"_

_ "Rubeus Hagrid had been kind enough to continue on in the Care of Magical Beasts the first four years after the war then he moved to France to marry Olympe Maxime. Charlie Weasley had returned for this fifth year to his alma matre. Charlie had finally decided he was getting too old for dealing with dragons daily."_

_ "Pomona Sprout had done a wondrous job of bringing the greenhouses and grounds back to their former glory in that first year post-war. She had remained head of Hufflepuff house that year. Neville Longbottom had interned for her as well as finishing his schooling then had taken over in that second year."_

_ "The Divination Professor Sybill Trewlawny whose visions caused much of the problems when only part of the prophecy had been revealed to Lord Voldemort had continued for two more years until Neville's fiancée, Luna finished school. Luna being a natural seer had fit right in and she and Neville had married a year ago and hyphenated her name to Luna Lovegood-Longbottom because all those L's are a good omen."_

_ "Filius Flitwick, the Charms Professor had also taken an intern and only worked one year post war before retiring. His "charming" replacement—o-o-o-o-h pun intended—was Hermione Granger. She had turned down a position in the Ministry for the "quiet" of teaching at Hogwarts."_

_ "In the muggle world it is called physical education, at Hogwarts it is flying and Quiddich. Rolanda Hooch has ably retained the position and taken over the head of Hufflepuff house upon the retirement of Professor Sprout. Her goal was to safely train all the little witches and wizards to fly and enjoy sports."_

_ "Professor Binns continued to teach History of Magic for three years after the war, then he realized he had died decades earlier and was gone without turning in his notice. Patricia Ione had been recruited from the California area of the wizarding world and was now head of Ravenclaw house. She also was an animagus and when he found out that she was a Komodo Dragon Charlie Weasley was gob smacked. He was still trying to figure out how to woo her. Oh, and her tie-died robes over U.S. Navy bell bottoms and a denim and moccasins made her a sight to behold. She was a quick witted witch with a way with words. She was the master of the double entendre and could swear with the best of them. She could drink Severus under the table on a bad day and me on a good one, but did she know her history! Nobody fell asleep in that class anymore."_

_ "Mahealani Little was recruited from Hawaii to be the Muggle Studies Professor. It seemed like nobody from Britain or even Europe wanted to teach Muggle Studies after the 2nd WW. They were afraid that the information needed to be better imparted by someone from outside the realm. Mimi had overseen the construction of four muggle houses outside the grounds so that they could have electricity and muggle appliances. These were equipped to teach ever student how to deal with the non-magic world. The students were all taught how to drive an automobile in their last year and part of the N.E.W.T. for Muggle Studies included passing the driving test and obtaining a driver's license simple now that the birth certificate problem had been solved. By the time they graduated all Hogwarts students could survive and even thrive in the muggle world if necessary. Many of them moved seamlessly from one world to the other which was helpful for intergovernmental relations."_

_ "Madam Poppy Pomfry continues to be the Mediwitch and an expert one at that. The Librarian Madam Irma Pince, had been reorganizing the collection and continued to shush noisy students and teachers alike."_

"Please come in," Albus beckoned Minerva when she rapped on the door to his office. "I have been in a reverie. I am not certain what to do about a Potions Professor. The job seems to be cursed."

"Have you tried another route and looked for someone who does not want to retire, but wants a change in their life?" replied Minerva. "I put a notice in the 'Denver Divinator' and received an owl from a witch who is currently in such a position in that area. Sushannah Smith went through school as a muggle and discovered she was a witch by accident. '_I'm certain that there is a back story there.'_ She has a doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Colorado and does medical research for a pharmaceutical."

"Let me see her resume. H-m-m-m-m looks promising. Do you think we might set a floo time to chat with her?" "_I so hate getting cinders in my beard during international floos_."


	2. Ch 1 Getting ready for the new term

**Chapter 1. Getting ready for the term**

"Professor Dumbledore, a word please," Professor Snape requested. "It is about my storage room."

"It is a little cluttered, isn't it? I don't think it has been cleaned out in over a hundred years," Professor Dumbledore stated. "What with no Defense against the Dark Arts Professor lasting more than a year and most of them dying or being run off, etcetera … well let's say not inclined to remove their belongings when exiting stage left, a lot has accumulated. Since you seem to be sticking around, I assume you are asking if you can remove it. Where do you think we should put it? Do you think you would want help?"

"That is exactly what I was to ask. Where do you think we should put it? Who do you think would want to help me?" Then he added with an air of frustration under his breath, "Yes, indeed, who would want to help me?"

"There is room in the Dungeons near the Potions Classroom that hasn't been used in at least three decades. The new Potions Mistress should be arriving July 1 and I am certain that we can ask another teacher or two to help sort it out and decide what we want to keep or discard. If there is something that would be useful for you, perhaps a boggart or two or three, you can keep it. If there are some artifacts with dark magic attached, we will need to call the Ministry of Magic for disposal." With that Dumbledore walked out of the Teachers' Lounge and down the corridor.

"Who is the new Potions Mistress," mused Severus Snape. "_I wonder how long she will last. Since I moved to DADA five years ago, there has been someone new in charge of potions every year … remove a curse from one job and it migrates to another._"

The rest of the week passed slowly. Severus Snape returned to his home in Spinner's End, visited Diagon Alley, and spent time in the reading room of the Trinity College Library doing research on an older text he had been transcribing. On Saturday evening he had dined with friends an interesting pastime that could not be indulged during the school term as often as he wished with being head of Slytherin house.

July 1 dawned sunny and clear. It was the kind of a day that put a spring into the step of all but the most resolute curmudgeons. "Morning, Minerva," Severus greeted Professor McGonagall as he sat down at the breakfast table in the Teachers' Lounge. (Since the teachers were the only ones in the school at this time of year and to make less work for the house-elves, it had been tradition for the teachers to take all meals in their lounge rather than the Great Hall.)

"Good morning to you, too, Severus." Minerva answered, "Please pass the sugar. May I pour you a cup of coffee, or would you prefer tea today?"

"Tea, today, I think. I think I will just have yoghurt with berries today. Maybe a little granola on top for crunch would not be amiss. I just don't want to eat too heavy when I am going to begin clearing the Defense against the Dark Arts storage room." Then he added, "Are you going to be helping sort? Albus said that he was going to ask the new Potions Mistress to help since they will be removed to the Dungeons off the Potions corridor. He said he would ask others as well."

"Did I hear someone mention me?" asked a middle-aged witch with white hair. "Please, pass the coffee pot, thank you. Sushannah Smith, new Potions Mistress." "No, I only drink coffee in my coffee at this time of day," she added when Severus raised an eyebrow as if to ask whether she wanted cream or sugar.

"Morning, Severus Snape, Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Good morning, Sushannah, Severus," greeted Minerva McGonagall, then added, "more than Morning Severus says is an opinion. Morning is a statement of fact." Then she grinned teasingly. She introduced the three instructors that were joining them as Hermione Granger, Charms Professor and Neville Longbottom, Herbology Professor and his wife Luna Lovegood-Longbottom, Divination.

"I think there is a full English breakfast with my name on it," announced Charley Weasley as he entered the room. "Er, have you seen Patricia."

Severus choked on his tea, then remarked, "I know that she has only been here since Binns up and left in March and it's already July 1, but you really do need to get used to not seeing her until 9 o'clock and not talking to her before 10. She will answer about 11, and if you want a civil answer wait until noon. Even I know that." Then he added, "Breakfast consisting of a doughnut, a cigarette and a diet Coke doesn't take much effort. Everyone in the castle is aware of her schedule, unless they have been in a time warp somewhere. Now if it were 8 p.m. she would be just hitting her stride and by midnight she would be at the top of her game. Only vampires and bartenders keep such hours."

Draco, Blaise, Mahealani and Rolanda entered bearing their brooms because they had been doing some early morning 2-on-2 quiddich. "I still say you cheated on that last goal, Malfoy," stated Mahealani. "What is the use of setting rules if you are going to break them."

"That's what rules are for," he smirked. "To break or at the minimum bend them."

"I could eat a hippogriff," said Blaise.

"But you would first have to capture, kill, clean and cook it," said Charlie under his breath. "How about pancakes, bacon and eggs instead?" he asked slightly louder.

Rolanda said that she just preferred tea, bacon and toast and then passed the pot to Sushannah. "You're new."

After introductions were made, coffee and tea poured, breakfast eaten, Albus, who had joined the group stated, "Since we don't have the new curriculum schedules. ('_Darn interfering Ministry can't even allow us to teach in peace_,' he muttered under his breath. '_Even the Board of Governors has had the grace to back off and let us do our job most of the time and only get involved with big issues. I am totally frustrated with micromanagement by bureaucracy.'_) I am going to ask you all to help Severus clean out the DADA store room. By the way if you run across the belongings of Gildroy Lockhart, the clothing and books can be sent to him in St. Mungo's, but the rest belongs here since it was paid for with school funds. We should have enough decorations for a monthly holiday party into the next millennium. Those can be put in the Room of Requirement. No need to tell you to be careful and watch out for objects with dark magic attached."

With the pleasantries out of the way, the staff made their way to the Defense against the Dark Arts Classroom and more importantly the storage room off to one side at the front of the room. The room looked like a hoarder had been turned loose in it and it was stacked floor to ceiling except for a narrow path mazing around and splitting off to the left or right every few yards. It was decided that Neville would climb the ladder and they would work their way from top to bottom on each precarious stack. He would hand down the boxes, or unboxed bundles to someone at the bottom and then pass it out of the room where the recipient would open and sort the box. It had been suggested to do the sorting with magic, but since this was the DADA store room they couldn't be certain whether or not items were cursed or jinxed to react to the addition of magic. This surmise was spot on because the first box held a black orb that began to glow with a neon green, then orange light as soon as it was brought out of the dark. The box was promptly closed and the Ministry notified of the necessity of immediate removal.

At the end of the day the Ministry had been called 13 times to haul off Dark Artifacts. There were two storage rooms of items to keep in the Dungeons, eight trunks of clothing and books written by Gildroy Lockhart to be forwarded to St. Mungo's ("_Who knows where they will put that garbage,"_ thought Snape), and 36 boxes of decorations stored in the Room of Requirement. Then as they were down to the last few boxes they discovered a treasure trove of aged liquor and wines. "Hot damn!" exclaimed Patricia as she opened the case of Jamaican rum. She opened a bottle and inhaled the essence, pulled a can of diet Coke from her pocket, put a chilling charm on it and took a long drink, then topped the can with the rum.

"Watch it," Severus yelled, remembering the incident with the poisoned firewhisky a few years earlier that had poisoned Ron Weasley accidentally. This time there was no need for alarm and a second case of liquor was opened-properly aged Old Ogden's. There was enough wine to properly stock a cellar. Half a dozen cases of single malt whisky—Glen Ord, said 15 year on the label, but had to be much older, an equal amount of Irish whisky, and then they found case upon case of beer from all over the world. "It would seem that more than the dark arts were being practiced here," remarked Severus as he arched an eyebrow and studied the room. Very few of them could had a hand in amassing the stash. "Where in the world did you learn to make your mixed drinks in the can?"

Not Patricia, but Sushannah replied, "High school parking lot." Patricia and Mahealani nodded. Then she added, "It is an American rite of passage—getting someone to buy your stuff, go to the school dance, leave for 'refreshment' and sneak back in because you cannot re-enter if you are caught leaving. Everyone does it, even the teachers." "It's a muggle thing…" Her mind went back to the 1960s and a silver GTO, Pauly and peppermint schnapps—"_god, but that hangover hurt but it was well worth it_".

Patricia and Charlie were in a deep discussion over the problem including political protest in music and folklore throughout the ages while their Coke cans were being replenished with more rum and less Coke as time went by. Then Charlie made the cardinal sin of saying Bob Dylan was whiney and couldn't sing. "You stupid ass of a jackass, he is a poet and it doesn't matter how he sings, it is the god damn words you are supposed to be paying attention to. Preserve me from people who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground," yelled the denim clad witch as she stood up from the floor where they had been sitting, grabbed another bottle of rum and her tie-dyed robes and stormed out of the room.

"That went well," said Charlie sheepishly. "Touched a nerve there. Maybe I need to go talk to the blast-ended skewerts, it will be safer."


End file.
